Second Great Awakening

1. Evaluate the extent to which religious ideas of the Second Great Awakening shaped reform movements in the first half of the nineteenth century. During the 1820s and 1830s, the Market Revolution had completely revolutionized society, creating factories, where workers require less skills and are paid by the hour. Over time, this changes the mindset of society to not push themselves as they no longer get rewarded for working harder as they had from farming and harvesting more crops. Getting paid by the hour working in factories causes them to be accustomed to doing just enough to survive. This is unbeneficial to society and worries the nation, creating the desire to fix society through religion. The Second Great Awakening during the 19th century was a time of religious revival, creating a new devotion to religion and expressing the belief that people can be saved through Christianity, which then led to the belief that reform was God’s plan. The many religious ideas of the Second Great Awakening played a large role in shaping many reform movements, inspiring the many reforms that attempted to resolve the evils in society during the Era of Reform. Although the Second Great Awakening inspired reform movements that affected society intellectually and religiously, overall those reform movements affected society socially because of the important changes it brought to minorities such as women and slaves. The Second Great Awakening’s religious ideas inspired many reforms and changes that affected society religiously, such as the Temperance movement. The Second Great Awakening created a new devotion to religion, and many people continued to demonstrate that devotion through making an effort to convert others to Christianity. For example, Charles Finney writes in the New York Evangelist newspaper, “Christians will have their faith renewed… A revival breaks the power of the world and of sin over Christians”(Doc 4). He writes that Christianity will bring great things, and how it can free the world from sin. He aims this at other evangelists to encourage them to spread Christianity to non-believers. During the Second Great Awakening, another way of spreading religious ideas other than through newspapers, was through camp meetings, where everyone gathered to listen to messages. Being free of sin was a big idea during this time, as many wanted to create the perfect society. This led to the Temperance movement, a movement that was influenced by the Second Great Awakening encouraging people to stop drinking because drinking was considered a sin. During the nineteenth century, people drank lots of liquor, the average consumption being around 5 gallons per person. Lyman Beecher says in his sermon “The enormous consumption of ardent spirits in our land will produce neither bodies nor minds like those which were the offspring of temperance and virtue… The missionary spirit, which is beginning to pervade our land, promises also, an auspicious reforming influence”(Doc 1). The Temperance Movement was a direct outcome of the Second Great Awakening as it was a movement that had started in the Protestant Church, advocating for the ban of Alcohol. Beecher says that temperance and resistance from alcohol leads to many positive benefits for society such as productivity and less crime. To further support the Temperance Movement, the American Temperance Society was founded in 1826. The American Temperance Society encouraged people to stop drinking with propaganda-like posters, exposing what alcohol leads to in life. For instance, the American Temperance Society’s “The drunkard's progress” states Bible verses like “The Drunkard shall come to poverty. Proverbs 23 Chap 21” and explains what they mean for people that drink, saying that drinking ultimately concludes in “Poverty, Wretchedness, a Curse and Burden upon Society, Want, Beggary, Pauperism, Death”(Doc 2). The use of Biblical verses demonstrate the influence of religious ideas from the Second Great Awakening on the Temperance Movement. The American Temperance Movement included Bible verses so that people are more likely to listen, as the Second Great Awakening made religion even more relevant and important. The Temperance Movement was supported by powerful people such as factory owners and politicians, eventually leading to the passing of prohibition laws in some states. Religious ideas from the Second Great Awakening also inspired reforms that affected society intellectually, such as the movement for education and the prison reform movement. The Era of Reform was basically an Era where people attempted to create the perfect utopian society. A Unitarian minister George Ripley wants “to take a small tract of land, which, under skillful husbandry, uniting the garden and the farm… to connect with this a school or college, in which the most complete instruction shall be given”(Doc 5). He projects his plan to create an utopian society, which he believes can be achieved through educating people in society, “combining the thinker and the worker”. This connects to the prison reform movement, which believed in morality, and that prisons should be areas for reform because people only do what they are taught to do. Dorethea Dix in her "Remarks on Prisons and Prison Discipline in the United States," says “In order to do good, a man must be good; and he will not be good except he have instruction by counsel and by example”(Doc 6). Dix believes that because prisoners were not taught any better, they promote criminal behavior. This shows that just like Ripley, she also believes that in order to create the perfect society, education is necessary. Although the religious ideas from the Second Great Awakening inspired reform movements that affected society intellectually and religiously, it’s effect on society was mainly social. An example of this is the Abolition movement that wanted to give true freedom to slaves and abolish slavery. During the Second Great Awakening, Slavery was viewed as a sinful thing as The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass exposed the many cruel things slave masters did. It brought a lot of anti-slavery sentiment to people, mainly people in the North. David Walker in his “Walker's Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World'' says that “Men of colour, who are also of sense, for you particularly is my APPEAL designed… Let the Lord see you doing what you can to rescue them and yourselves from degradation”(Doc 3). Walker writes this appeal to coloured Citizens to encourage them to fight back and revolt against slave owners for their own freedom. However, there was still alot of pro-slavery sentiment especially because of the newly introduced Cotton Gin by Eli Whitney. The Cotton Gin increased production of cotton which in turn increased the need for slaves. Many women wanted to support the Abolition movement, but it was extremely difficult for them to do so because of the Cult of Domesticity created during the Market Revolution. The Market Revolution was a time of industrialization, creating factories that mostly men worked in. While the men were out working, women stayed home and took care of the house, which over time created the Cult of Domesticity, the social norm where women are only allowed to do household work while men work outside. As a result of the Cult of Domesticity women are unable to advocate for abolition, and this leads to the Movement for Women’s Suffrage. In 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, stating the rights for all men and men only, setting the social norm that men are superior. Elizabeth Stanton alters the Declaration of Independence to include women not just men, and says “Such has been the patient sufferance of the women under this government, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to demand the equal station to which they are entitled. The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her.”(Doc 7). She points out the injustice between men and women, how they are not equal in terms of roles in society and political power. These two movements were both largely influenced by the religious ideas of the Second Great Awakening as they were both because of the belief that slavery was sinful. All in all, the religious ideas from the Second Great Awakening played a big role in shaping the many reforms of the first half of the nineteenth century. Although the reforms created did affect society intellectually and religiously, the overall most important effect they had on society were social effects, as they planted the seeds for the abolition of slavery and equal rights for women. The religious ideas from the Second Great Awakening influencing reforms on society during the Era of Reform can connect to Manifest Destiny, when religious ideas influenced people to expand Westward as people believed it was God’s intention just as how people believed reform was God’s plan. This connection in history demonstrates how influential religion is and how big of a role religious ideas play on people’s actions.